Fashion model fired for being too skinny?! Hallelujah!

Regular readers of this weblog are quite familiar with my biannual rants against skinny models, which I publish to coincide with the annual Spring and Fall fashion shows in New York City. But for those of you who are not, here’s a sample of my plaintive lament in this regard:

…[A]s the madams of modeling in New York are flaunting their obsession with anorexic girls at their biannual fashion bacchanal, the matrons of fashion in Spain announced that such sickly-looking mannequins will no longer be strutting their dry bones at Madrid’s fashion shows....

Unfortunately, Madrid is hardly the fashion trendsetting capital of the world. And I fear that instead of setting a new tone its fashion vanguards will suffer a backlash from fashionistas in places like New York, London and Paris who seem terminally vested, commercially and psychologically, in anorexic models.

Regrettably, since publishing my first rant (in a different forum) over a decade ago, there has been no gain in the transformation of (health) consciousness amongst the trendsetting madams of fashion. And this, despite the addition of influential voices like that of Harry Potter author JK Rowling to this weighty cause.

Indeed, nothing demonstrated the daunting challenges we face more than when self-proclaimed advocate for normal-size models, Tyra Banks, chose the positively-skeletal Jaslene Gonzalez (pictured left) as the winner of her top-rated TV competition for America’s Next Top Model. (Alas, no matter what she says, naturally-chubby Tyra's still dying to be thin....)

Nevertheless, there’s reason to hope. Because the Daily Mail reported on Monday that, for the first time in the history of haute couture, a major London agency, Models 1, fired a fashion model for being “too thin”. Moreover, the conscientious head of this agency told her to not even think about coming back until she has gained at least “one stone” (ie, 14 pounds).

But it was not at all surprising to me that instead of pouting with resentment, this model, Charlotte Carter who is 5’10” but wears a bulimic “size 0”, expressed relief:

It was like a psychological wall coming down. It helped me to finally realize that I was too thin.

I was impressed that an agency was addressing my well-being. It feels like London agencies are cracking down on this super-skinny idea . . . and the rest of the world is somehow listening.

Now, if only the madams at Ford, Elite, Wilhelmina et al of New York could get over their obsession with strutting bone-thin mannequins….

Meanwhile, I’m not too focused on how skinny these bitches are to notice that they are also bone white! In fact, here's what a typical fashion runway looks like in NYC this week!

Frankly, one could be forgiven the impression that - since Alek Wek is busy promoting her extraordinary autobiography in the US, and a semi-reformed Naomi Campbell is busy raising funds for flood victims in the UK - no other black models are worthy of showing off the clothes of the world's top fashion designers.

Well, let's see what Rev Al has to say about that! What?! Sharpton went to Vegas for the VMAs...?!

UPDATE ( September 27) Fashion group Flash & Partners incited appropriate revulsion against skinny models today by launching an ad campaign featuring an anorexic model in all of her glory to coincide with the start of this year’s fashion week in Italy.

The image appeared in Italian newspapers and on billboards in the fashion capital, Milan. The photographer, Oliviero Toscani - who attained international fame with his invariably controversial ads for Benetton – said he wanted the campaign to reflect growing concerns about "the unhealthy image of beauty" being propagated by the fashion industry.

After all, reduced to its bare essentials (ie, runway models stripped of their haute couture), this is the nightmarish image of beauty that the madams of fashion would have our eyes behold:



Related Articles:
Skinny models (still) reign at New York’s Fashion week
Skinny models no longer reign in Spain
JK Rowling joins anti-skinny campaign
Admonition on girls dying to be thin

skinny models, size zero models, Oliviero Toscani Nolita ads